Pkd 03-20-2005

Diesel · #1 03-21-2005, 04:13 PM

I was at PKD yesterday. I was very dissapointed.

Weather - isolated rain showers, high near 70.

I've been waiting all winter to ride Grizzly and the Anaconda (yeah I know, but I get off on the ride for some reason).

I arrived and headed straight for Grizzly - it was closed.

I then went around the Sky Coaster to Hypersonic XLC - it was closed.

I took a quick ride on the Rebel Yell, backwards was closed, but forwards was open.

I was next to the Shockwave, so I rode that. It's rough as usual, paint is chipping all over the queueing area.

I then went to Anaconda - it was closed.

I saw Hypersonic was open, I headed back and rode it, the launch is cool, as is the hill and the drop, but that's about it. The rest of the ride is incredibly rough.

I then rode Hurler, which was rougher than I remember.

I checked on Grizzly again, the ride was closed for the day.

I headed over to Volcano, but saw that Anaconda was running. Just as I was about to enter, a guard blocked the entrance with a trash can and said that the ride was closed because the souveniour photo camera was not functioning properly.

I hopped on Volcano then. It was cool as usual.

Stopped by Avalanche while I was in the area. It was decent.

Anaconda was still down. The attendent said that it would be down for the rest of the day. (Damn it!! Those are the two rides that I came here for.)

I took a ride on the drop tower. Then I headed out to lunch at Denny's.

I had to take a dump the night before, but I kept putting it off, now I was paying for it. No restrooms looked good enough in the PKD area, so I headed down 95 to the next exit (#92) and found a Holiday Inn.

Back to the park, it was now about 3:30. I decided that I'd do one more ride on XLC, Rebel Yell, Anaconda, and Volcano. But Anaconda was down for the day, so just XLC, Rebel Yell, Volcano.

Went to Rebel Yell first, and noticed that Richochet was now down. It's starting to become comical at this point. Rode Rebel Yell in the back, it was rough as all hell. But I noticed that Anaconda was running.

So I headed for Anaconda, but got caught behind some stupid Nickelodeon parade. Fifteen minutes later I was at Anaconda. I got up to the loading station just in time to hear the annoucement that the ride was now out of service. I now feel like throwin' some sucka.

Over to Volcano, the line is way long (probably because it's about the only ride open in the park). I skipped it.

As I was leaving the Mountain, I saw that the mechanical part of the drop tower (the part that lifts the part with the riders) was about halfway up the tower and not moving. I was planning on another ride on this, but now I'd be skipping it.

But hey, Anaconda was open. I got to ride the thing. I noticed as I was going through the queue that there was a ton of trash that had washed up in that lake. It didn't appear to be new, some was sun faded. Can't we clean a park while it's closed for four months?

Anaconda is ridiculously loud going up the lift hill. Why?

I left at about 5:00 and noticed that the Beserker was also out of service.

I was really looking forward to this one. My wife and I went opening day last year and had a great time. Here's what I think:

Atmosphere - It doesn't have a great family atmosphere. A lot of teens there. I think they should all be in cages. Park was dirty too.

Employees - The employees were great. A few times as I'd walk by a game stand, the attendant would ask how I was doing and if I needed help finding anything.

Rides - They're great...when they work. Grizzly is by far the best woodie that I've been on (including Phoenix, Gwazi, and the Lightning Racer). but not working. Richochet is the best wild mouse I've been on, but also not running. Rebel Yell is a great out and back. I think the view from the top of the lift hill is the best view from any coaster. The Anaconda is probably the smoothest and least dizzying Arrow that I've ridden. Volcano is cool of course. But none of these things matter if the rides aren't open.

Others - the park is about 150 miles from me, the exact same distance as Knoebel's. But the drive to Knoebel's doesn't take me through DC traffic or the toll in Baltimore. The park can't help this, but it still influences my decisions.

I've had worse times - BGT 2004; DP 2003. But I've had much better times - PKD 2004.

NITROS AIRTIME · #2 03-21-2005, 04:27 PM

sounds like you caught PKD on a bad day. im heading up there in a week from thursday. hopefully they'll have those problems taking csare of. Grizzly is also one of my favorite woodies. te airtime in the back is amazing

pretzel-loop · #3 03-21-2005, 04:48 PM

Grizzly=closed until May for track work.

You went to PKD and didn't even ride Tomb Raider? Didn't even glance at it? Did you try Flight of Fear?

I was at the park yesterday as well, thought the park was clean and maintained. Sure they had problems with a few rides here and there but I saw each ride running (except Grizzly) at some point.

Diesel · #4 03-21-2005, 04:56 PM

I saw the Tomb Raider thing. It looked boring and crowded.

I've ridden Flight of Fear before. I don't find much favor with it.

NITROS AIRTIME · #5 03-21-2005, 05:00 PM

Tomb Raider (from what i heard) is supposed to bery great and very well themed

Carowinds 73-03 · #6 03-21-2005, 05:30 PM

Well thats pretty much ssound like the woese day you could have aat PKD. I wonder why the rides wern't open.

Too bad you didn't ride TR, I would have loved to hear about it.

Did you get any photos? I'll be at PKD sometime in aug.

Diesel · #7 03-21-2005, 06:12 PM

I was going to bring the camera with me into the Holiday Inn, but I forgot.

Cid · #8 03-21-2005, 07:29 PM

I went on Saturday and it was a great day! Short lines, great weather. All around a perfect day.

I too was quite upset about Grizzly though!

PGH_Steeler · #9 03-21-2005, 07:40 PM

Awwwww too bad.

jumpboyb · #10 03-21-2005, 07:50 PM

The park was fine opening weekend last year and the year before...

^Had to go and edit your post...

Sucks about the bad trip and everything closed.

BatwingFan SFA · #11 03-21-2005, 09:58 PM

August? man I'm glad I'm going in july.

Sounds like Hurler is the same old piece of firewood that it's always been & the sooner they get rid of it the better,I'll know to steer clear of it especially after last year.

Now I just don't get why Anaconda was down just because the stupid photo cam wasn't working......I've had several rides on Superman & Roar where the camera wasn't working but they didn't close either ride because of it.

Diesel · #12 03-22-2005, 08:23 PM

Agreed. I understand that the souveniour photos are probably a great revenue stream. But I'd never shut down a ride (when Grizzly, Drop Zone, Richochet, and Beserker are already down) so that you can adjust it. I think the intangibles of annoying your guests would outweigh the few bucks from the pictures.

I actually enjoyed the Hurler when I rode it last year, maybe it's because I'm a year older now, but it sucked this year. Someone has to explain the theming of that ride now, what is with the baby parts in the loading station? What is the theme now that they've abandoned the Wayne's World theme?

RamblinWreck · #13 03-22-2005, 10:18 PM

Rebel Yell did open both sides, at least around the time when my friend was there Sunday. Also, he said that there was a cheerleading competition going on or something like that, hence, the preteen dominance.

robvia · #14 03-23-2005, 02:48 PM

The thing that bugs me about PKD/PKI is the carnival atmosphere. The game vendors are everywhere, and there isn't much landscaping because of it. Instead of cool music playing in the park like BGW or IOA, you've got people screaming at you to come play a game. So even if they theme a ride to the max, the walkways will ruin it with all those games.

pretzel-loop · #15 03-23-2005, 02:57 PM

PKD took a step down in my book this past weekend when I saw guests winning basketballs. SFA does the same thing and I can't stand it. People are constantly, dribbling, fake shooting and hitting guests with one of those stupid basketballs. But, yeah, I follow what your saying robvia. I don't think PKD is to bad. You can pretty much cruise through Congo and the Wild West Area of PKD without being battered to play a game, but once you hit Candy Apple Grove all bets are off. BGW is so quiet, I hardly notice them.